Chimney Cake Island

Oh My Goodness. These chimney cakes are AHMaZing. I had the nutella and cocount chimney cake a while back and I scarfed it down in 10 minutes. Such good value for what you pay and they are seriously addicting. The storekeeper is super nice, and I would call in ahead of time with the order so you don’t have to wait.

Chimney Cake Island is closing at the end of this month… so sad! Went in for one last Chimney Cake and they were as delicious as ever. So unique, light, tasty, and reasonably priced. Visit them quickly to let them know you want to see them again elsewhere in Chicago!

Great unique sweets, tasty cakes, great variety!
Thanks for bringing something special to Chicago!

I love this place so much! The chimney cakes taste like the perfect cross between a cinnamon roll and a croissant. They are so light and airy and big! And the woman who owns the shop and does everything singlehandedly is so sweet and lovely. I highly recommend this place! Oh and original and cinnamon are my favorite (though they have lots of other delicious toppings like coconut and Nutella.)
Go check it out!

This is such a nice little shop! It’s very small and not easy to spot, so just park and walk to where it should be according to the address and it’ll be there. They only have «chimney cakes» with a few variations on the menu… and this is where you ask new what a chimney cake is. The cakes are about 3 inch wide and 7 inches tall, so they look like cylanders (or chimneys). I got the daily special which is a white cake rolled in Nutella and then in walnuts. You can choose from different nuts and other toppings, and they come to about $ 6 each cake. It’s an interesting idea, and I hope they get some regular business because it seems to be a nice spot with nice people. There’s no background music, and there’s only 2 seats inside, so it’s definitely a bit awkward to walk in and feel very noisy as you wipe your feet on the rag they have near the door. I guess their effort and attention go to the cakes~! If I ever have to buy some desserts for 4 or 5 people, I’ll stop in and get another cake or two.

I love this place! It’s totally kid friendly and the owners Mara and Alex are very nice. The cakes are amazing, my favorite is walnut, although my two year old really enjoys Nutella :) The coffee is delicious and the tea assortment is great.
If you haven’t tried the chimney cakes, you must!

These sweet, unique treats of Transylvania have quickly become a Sunday ritual of mine.
As these cakes are best fresh, I have come into the habit of calling-​ahead before I stop-​in. I once had a short, 10 minute wait as the lovely owners of Chimney Cake Island made me two fresh, oven-​baked Chimney Cakes, which was not a bad wait at all; I walked down the street to grab a decaf coffee, returned & my cakes were hot out of the oven.
My usual go-​to cake at Chimney Cake Island is called the Tiger… smothered in peanut butter, & rolled in chocolate. Sounds completely decadent, (& it is!) but these cakes are far from over-​indulgent.
The cake itself has a light, citrus taste to it. It is fluffy, not dense, & easily pulls apart.
I have always been happy with the quality of the Chimney Cakes, & I have always appreciated the honest customer service I have received here. I definitely appreciate that they will bake my cake fresh for me… & I cannot recommend enough calling ahead about 10 to 15 minutes before picking up. Your cake will still be warm, straight off the roll, out of the oven.

Authentic cakes
Great service — The lady at the counter patiently explained the history and the process of the cakes .
Healthier donut — like someone already said: Baked, not fried… so its a
Got the walnut with nutella… Sensational. was freshly baked.
I like the way you can eat it by peeling the cake spirally ! easy to share the cake on the move. also good for indulging, without feeling cloy ;-)

Saw this place on Chicago’s Best and decided to go. Can you imagine going to a donut or bagel shop and they tell you they are out? This is the most ridiculous restaurant experience I have had in the last couple years.
I came in on a Saturday afternoon and the owner greeted me warmly. She then told me they were out of chimney cake and would have more in FORTY minutes. I thought the tv show said these bake for 6 minutes??? She asked whether I could come back later and I said not really because I don’t live around here. She said someone just came in and bought 15 so she didn’t have any left. She also said she wouldn’t have usually sold everything, but they were from out of town. WTF?!
She told me to call first next time so she could reserve some for me. There won’t be a next time. Pretty stupid business decision to run completely out of product at 3PM when you close at 5PM.

Chimney cakes will change your life. If a doughnut and a pretzel had a love child a chimney cake would result. ALWAYS a hit when I bring them to parties and with so many options for different spreads/​toppings you cannot go wrong. My favorite is Nutella rolled in walnuts.
The woman who runs the store is helpful and friendly and the baking area is always clean and well kept. I can call in a special order and it is ready to go in 5 minutes. Amazing product, wonderful management, only a block from my house! LOVE! Try it, I repeat… they will change your life.

Good good.
I tasted them for the fist time at a Unilocal event and loved them. All them are great. coconut, walnut, regular and my favorite nutella with chocolate.
I can see that they would be good with hot chocolate, tea or milk.
Don’t even ask about customer service, it is exceptional. Big shout out to Alex and wife.
It is a bit out of the way for me but worth the drive.
CCI good chimney cakes

Yum yum!
I participated today in the Unilocal’s Sugar High event and oh boy I ate up my chimney cake ice cream. The cinnamon ice cream was so good and fresh. You could actually taste the cinnamon. I got two different chimney cakes, one walnut, the other coconut both with nutella filling. I am actually going to bring one of the chimney cakes to a party this Sat. I am sure it is going to be a hit with my friends. I just hope that it will last until Sat and I don’t end up eating both because they are so delicious.

I tried both the Nutella and walnut and Nutella and coconut chimney cakes, both of which were delicious and even better with (chocolate) milk. One cake is good for 2 – 3 people to eat. If you’re specifically making the trip to this bakery (as I was), I highly recommend calling ahead to check if they have the chimney cake you want, and if they don’t, you can place an order with them and pick it up in about 1.5 hours (the amount of time it takes for them to make a new batch of cakes). The owners said they often sell out quickly on weekends.

I drove by this place hundreds of times, vowing to stop in because it was something new in Rogers Park, and we don’t get too many new things way up here.
So glad I finally made the trip in! I am a bit late on the reviews, I’ve been in about 5 times in the last couple of months. The whole concept is genius. It’s crispy ojn the outside, soft on the inside like a donut, bit it’s baked, and nutella is an option. I mean, what’s more to love?
It’s fun to eat and is definitely a cool alternative to bring to parties amid the boring selection of store bought cupcakes.

Chim, chimney
Chim, chimney
Chim, chim, cher-​oo
I’m a fan of the tasty, flaky, simplistically sweet love that is the Transylvanian Chimney Cake.
What the eff is a chimney cake, you ask? Well, take a look at the photo accompaniment and all will be revealed.
Those swirly, cylindrical, yeasty delights are just about one of the tastiest little treats I’ve had the pleasure of unraveling and enjoying in quite some time. While there’s really not much to this cake — it’s essentially a basic bread recipe — there is something about the spindle-​method of cooking ‘em that yields something so airy, yet so substantial, that the end result seems far more unique and complex than it truly is.
With topping choices like nutella, coconut, cinnamon, walnut and plain glazed, there is something for every dessert enthusiasts sweet tooth. Eager for something other than a stack ‘o chimneys? Don’t plan on finding it here. While I wished they carried other baked good in addition to these signature items, Chimney Cake Island is just that, an atoll of coiled goodness.

I love this unique little sweet treat!
I tried the plain, chocolate, and cinnamon flavors and all were quite delicious. Of the three, I’d probably skip getting the chocolate again, but only because it wasn’t what I was expecting –it was covered in chocolate sprinkles instead of actual chocolate, and I don’t much care for sprinkles of any kind (I know, I know…).
I don’t even know how to accurately describe these things. The texture is almost like a bread, but different, and it’s spiral and unravels as you twist off pieces. It’s utterly delightful and fun to eat.
The cinnamon one pretty tastes like the best cinnamon toast you ever ate and the plain one was delicious with both coffee and tea. The plain one has a light sugary glaze which left me with sticky fingers; I had no shame in licking off every last bit.
They have other flavors, like walnut or coconut, if you’re so inclined.
As I happily discovered, these are great at breakfast or dessert. I served one with sliced fresh strawberries and it was divine.
I’m already planning a return visit this weekend.

Despite living a few blocks away from this place, I had yet to try their delicious doughy goodness. Thankfully, they had a booth at Midsommarfest in Andersonville this year! Oh my, what a lovely treat!
Three of us split the walnut covered chimney, fresh out of the oven. After a quick roll in the nuts, the dough was scooted off of the dowel, and into some plastic for easy carrying. It was still hot and steaming, mimicking a chimney perfectly.
It was a the perfect amount for 3 to share, and at $ 6, a decent price. I believe they are a bit cheaper at the store though.

My hubby is Romanian and I’ve been looking for some Romanian goodies I can surprise him with. After a long Saturday at work, I wanted to surprise him with my awesome find (Chimney cakes).
We drove from Albany Park to Edgewater which was about 25 mins with traffic and we finally got to Chimney Cake… unfortunately they were sold out.
The owners recommended we order some for tomorrow to pick up which we did. We gave them 5 orders. And the next day, we were excited to come back but they accidentally sold one of our orders so we ended up with only 4.
Overall, they were yummy. We both prefer the nutella with crush walnuts. They’re pretty sticky so I recommend wipes for the little ones :)

Three cheers for something new and unique, not to mention fun and delicious! Kürts kalács are Transylvanian/​Romanian/​Hungarian traditional pastries – chimney cakes!
I got my first taste of them a few minutes out of the oven… and nearly wept. St Stephen himself must have had a hand in these things. They’re obscenely delicious at room temperature, but do yourself a giant favor and try to catch them fresh and warm. Staggering.
Instead of me trying to describe them, just look at the photos. They are baked for six minutes and end up slightly crispy on the outside and feathery soft inside, about an eighth to a quarter of an inch thick. It is more like a bread than a pastry. The real kicker is that the cylinder is spiralled, so that if you are slightly OCD like me, you will have to eat the entire thing in one sitting because there’s nowhere to make a clean division.
Walnut – excellent (try this one in the morning with a tiny drizzle of maple syrup and a cup of tea. Heaven). Cinnamon – fantastic, the best single-​ingredient variety. Nutella and coconut… … … …uh, I’ve got nothing. I short-​circuited the vocabulary banks on this one. Just go ahead and indulge for yourself.
The regular ones are five bucks apiece, which seems cheap to me because, truly, two people should be able to split this as a dessert (or sweet-​ish breakfast accompaniment). Or you could serve a few at a party and just let the guests unwind the spiral and tear off pieces as they go. There are probably all kinds of fun presentation options. Put them on an old-​fashioned wooden paper towel rack!
The couple who owns and operates the shop are the most warm and gracious people in the bakery business. They are open six days a week and have a charming website. I want everyone to go try Chimney Cake Island, but heaven help you if you get there a minute ahead of me and take the last cinnamon one! Actually, on second thought, I will happily wait six minutes for a hot and fresh one.
Lori L. tipped me off to this place, and I owe her a debt of eternal gratitude – and a chimney cake!

This is a very unique and specialized bakery. Chimney cakes are essentially hollow tubes (chimney shaped) of a moist, bread-​like pastry. They are sold either as plain or they are flavored with things like walnuts or coconut, etc.
These cakes are traditional to Romania and Hungary. I had never seen or heard of them before I caught a Unilocal review. It peaked my curiosity, so we headed over there yesterday. The shop itself is very nice and inviting and the owners are very friendly.
We purchased 2 Chimney cakes, one plain and one with walnuts. The plain was ok, but we especially enjoyed the walnut cake. The outside has a light crust and the inside is very moist. It seems a little expensive for the amount of cake you actually get, but I will still go back to get more of the walnut and to probably try other flavors as well. I think they would be an interesting item to bring to a party because they are so unique.
I hope they are very successful here in Chicago. If you are in the area, check it out. They have free samples so you can check it out before making any purchases. Next time I will stay for a cup of coffee as well.